Guardian Readers Debate How to Reform Britain's Pensions Triple Lock

Guardian readers offered competing views on how to reform Britain's pensions triple lock, in letters responding to an earlier opinion piece on the subject, according to the Guardian.

One letter argued that breaking the triple lock is a poor way to target wealthy pensioners, since most pensioners are not affluent — noting that a quarter of pensioners require additional benefits on top of the state pension just to get by, the Guardian reported.

Pension tax relief singled out

The letter instead pointed to the tax treatment of private pension savings as a more direct target, according to the report. A taxpayer contributing £100 to a pension can receive £40 to £45 in tax relief at the higher or additional rate, compared with £20 at the basic rate, the letter said.

Tax and national insurance relief on private pensions costs the UK government £84bn a year, according to the Guardian's account of the letter.

Further details on other readers' proposals, and on the original article that prompted the responses, were not included in the available report.